Fundación Pachamama, at the direct request of the Shuar, has been actively facilitating a structured process of reflection and conversation throughout 2008 and the first part of 2009 in each of the 11 associations (made up of several communities) affiliated with FIPSE to address these issues. In these workshops, Fundación Pachamama helped guide a careful analysis around the various forms of autonomous government. Open discussion regarding all the areas important to the Shuar, including territory, internal organization, legislation, as well as other priority areas, including education, health, economy, culture, among others, were debated.
These spaces for deliberation within the Shuar population helped to generate political consensus and resulted in established guidelines which were consolidated into the “Tarimita Shuara Chichame – or the Shuar Constitution. This important groundwork helped the Shuar people to develop clarity on what they expected politically and which options were available to effectively achieve their goals. Then, in the last general assembly held recently in August 2009, and with this consolidation of ideas as key antecedent, the Shuar people re-defined themselves politically as the Shuar “Nation”.
This important step by the Shuar to define themselves as a nation is a very promising and empowering signal as it reflects a real desire and capacity by the Shuar to govern themselves proactively, taking advantage of the constitutional Rights granted to indigenous nations. This self-definition presents new opportunities for the Shuar Nation of Transkutuku as it implies that they have executive authority to define the terms of self-governance over and in their territory. It also presents challenges as this new form of government means that elected leaders have the great responsibility to ensure that the decisions made and policies implemented genuinely reflect the needs of their constituent communities. During this challenging process, the support of Fundación Pachamama continues, and will play an important role in helping to achieve this vital objective.
